Marcus Stroman agrees to terms with the Yankees

The Yankees have agreed to terms with free agent right-hander Marcus Stroman on a two-year, $37 million deal that includes an option for a third season, a source tells MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand. Stroman also posted a photo of himself in a Yankees uniform to his Instagram stories.

The club has not yet confirmed the agreement, which is still subject to the results of medical examinations.

This is not the first time Stroman has been linked to the Yankees. In 2019, New York showed interest in his services before the trade deadline. At the time, Stroman was with the Blue Jays and dreamed of playing for the Bronx Bombers. Stroman is originally from Medford, New York, less than two hours from the Bronx.

“I’m from New York and I’m a New York boy. That says it all in itself,” Stroman said at the time. “I love pitching (at Yankee Stadium). New York is like the Mecca of the world. I like the excitement, the bright lights, the competition, I like the pressure. I’ve always loved pitching here. I didn’t necessarily pitch well. But I always enjoyed it. The Yankees’ lineups are brutal. They are a little difficult to navigate. I like focus. “This moment was as big as I wanted it to be.”

Stroman has been a consistently above-average starter for most of his career since debuting with the Blue Jays in 2014. He hasn’t had an ERA+ lower than 113 (13% better than average) in any of the last four seasons. He struck out 113 last season, leading the 32-year-old pitcher to perhaps have the best year of his career. He maintained a 2.28 ERA and .536 opponents’ OPS in his first 16 starts with the Cubs, earning his second All-Star Game appearance.

However, Stroman’s 2023 campaign hit a slump in July, as he allowed 27 earned runs in 26.2 innings that month before going on the injured list with inflammation in his right hip on August 2. Stroman’s return to the mound was delayed due to fractured cartilage in his right rib and once he joined the Cubs on September 15, he pitched just eight innings in four relief appearances to end the year. He finished with a 3.95 ERA, the second-highest mark of his career.

These injuries caused Stroman’s innings total to drop below 140 for the second consecutive season. In 2022, he missed a month due to right shoulder inflammation and was also out for more than two weeks due to a bout with COVID-19.

Prior to this, Stroman was one of the most durable pitchers in baseball. He surpassed 180 innings three times in a span of four seasons between 2016 and 2019. He surpassed 200 innings in the 2016 and 2017 seasons with the Blue Jays. That final season, he won a Gold Glove Award and finished in the top 10 in American League Cy Young Award voting.

After being selected to his first All-Star Game in 2019, Stroman was transferred from the Blue Jays to the Mets, where he played through 2021. He missed all of 2020 with a torn left calf muscle and then was sidelined with COVID. -19 concerns in August.

Stroman, whose strikeout rate is generally below average, has always relied on his sinker to induce a lot of ground balls and really limit damaging contact. His ground ball rate was above 60% in the first four years of his career and never dropped below 50%. He finished 2023 at 57%, his best figure since 2018.